Archive for September, 2008

‘Yesterday Wall Street got a bit sideways with the unemployment numbers. The Left part of our country that implemented this government intervention (see Proper Role of Government) then blames the current sitting President with their newest slogan of “Failed Policies”. This is typical of the boy who cried wolf.

Typically we teach to hire the best employees you yourself must be the “employer of choice” Wall Street was stunned Friday when the U.S. jobless rate jumped to 5.5 from 5% in April. Why how did this happen? How did we lose all of these jobs so fast?.

1. It’’s the price of oil.
2. It’’s George Bush and his policies. .
3. It’’s the housing and credit crisis.4.Its the salmonella in tomatoes.
4. These are always the first reasons we hear.
5. The minimum wage reality, hundreds of thousands of teenagers that were poured into the job market at the same time thanks to the end of the school year, but many, if not most, will not find jobs because they are now to expensive.

This comes from an article in Investors Business Daily. The minimum wage was hiked 14% to $5.85 an hour last July. Next month it’’s going to go up an additional 12% to $6.55 an hour. In July it’’s slated to rise 10.7% to $7.25 an hour. Now, if that sounds like a lot, the actual cost is much higher after you fold in taxes, benefits, and Social Security that businesses pay on behalf of these teenage workers.

Why can”t Wall Street figure this out, how about the Senators that passed the wage increase, why is the country surprised that unemployment is rising? Senate please I beg of you to blow the dust off of your college economics text books and read the section on supply and demand, in relation to the cost of supply.

When you raise the cost of anything, consumers demand less of it. Why doesn”t everyone understand that with gasoline? For instance, we know as the price of gasoline rises, people are going to change their habits. Businesses are going to change their habits. Airlines won”t be able to function the way they do. So the demand goes down and when the demand goes down, supply goes back up, then the price goes down. (Confused? so is congress) Demand goes down the higher you raise the price. So if you raise the minimum wage, demand for minimum wage workers will go down. The result = unemployment goes up

Surprised? Maybe to only those in congress. Since teenagers are the least educated, least trained, overall least productive of all workers, they are the least likely to be selected in the labor market. If you have to shell out an extra 40% over three years to employ the unproductive workers as is now happening, you are likely to find a good reason not to do so unless it’’s absolutely necessary. An economist from the University of California calculated that 10% minimum wage hike will cut employment of young and unskilled workers by 8.5%. He says in the last 11 months alone, the U.S. minimum wage has increased by more than twice that amount. So if we are expecting a 20% minimum wage hike, we can expect a 17% drop in employment in uneducated workers. It’’s crazy. Recent minimum wage hikes are the big reason teen joblessness is at the highest level it’’s been in 60 years. Could we have seen this coming? Yes as soon as it passed just ask the Senators that voted against the minimum wage increase. Besides anyone who had any experience in business at all, anyone? A day not in the classroom.

A day out in the real world. Could have predicted this. The next step lets increase the income tax rate, sound like a good idea you say? Ok that is a great idea. hey lets increase the unemployment benefit Great idea we have to help these unskilled teenagers. This will generate more taxable revenue to the Federal Government. Right? Wrong, the amount of actual taxes collected will decrease. Why you ask? Because we have fewer employed Americans, Congress pull out your history books now and review the amount of taxes collected after the tax decrease from President Bush. Thats right they increased.

A recent article in a local business magazine was discussing the youngest generation of workers to enter the workforce. They entitled it “Generation Gimme” How to Work With the Entitlement Generation. You got that right? The best and most important part of the article is this quote

The Laissez-faire attitude is common because this particular generation typically hasn’t had anything to worry about or work for. If they want something – be it a toy or a job – they get it. A lot has to do with parenting style…

Don’t get me wrong the article also offers some insight from the management point and some advice for the younger generation on the expectations in the real world, including some insight as to what a business owner is looking for these days. It is not much different from what we look for for the past uh.. forever. That is

“…they will hire some one with the ability to work hard and take pride in their work over experience anyday”

This article however finishes with a condescending attitude to us older folk (anyone over 30, ok 40?) the feel is we are supposed to parent the new employees. Now I do not have a problem with insight to new attitudes skills etc however this type of article becoming more and more common and I am getting concerned with this mentality. So I have my own advice to business managers and employees

Managers

I do call bullshit on the entitlement generation, we have already been pinned down by the political correcters in society for fear of offending somebody racially, genderally, disabilitied, ( yes I am pissed and I am making up my own words today) now we are being told to be afraid to manage our employees. I call BULLSH*T OH SORRY! this is inappropriate management. Ok Stupid Management, I cannot get away from this, I see it everyday in every industry and now as the same politicians that create the housing and banking mess Yes the ones that said loosen the lending guidelines so every American can afford get into a home are now the ones responsible for finding out what went wrong! Anybody check to see how much each one of these idiots recieved in campaign contributions? Well here is some light to the subject Senator Chris Dodd head of the “Banking Committee” over $4 mil from the investment banking industry including Fannie and Freddie.

WILL SOMEBODY GROW A SET OF BALLS AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT!!!!!!!!

What does this have to do with the Article I read well nothing and everything. It is called Business 101 You are responsible for the creation, advertising then delivering your brand to your customers. It is your business! You have the vision, the capital, took the risk invested Blood Sweat and Tears into starting and growing your Restaurant. You run your operation the way you feel best. If you want to be a draconian prick of an owner then deal with the high employee turnover, if you want to be a complete 98 pound weakling and be friends with every employee and worry about being liked. Then deal with them running your business into the ground. If you Choose to learn leadership skills and runn your business based upon having the best people in the best positions, train the heck out of them, employ effective leadership and management skills then you will be successful. You choose, But do not buy into this passive acceptance of changing your leadership style, and delivering your brand to fit the narcistic needs of the younger generation.

Employees

Now in this article the author did dispense some great advice to the new young employee’s.

1. Turn off the WIIFM (Whats in it For Me) radio station
2. Hurry up and Wait (your turn) Credibility is earned
3. Manage your career Paying your dues means extra time and energy (nobody owes you anything)
4. High Maintenance means see ya
5. Pride ( in your Work not ego)

Now I know that this does not apply to all of you, If you do not know which ones apply to you then you probably are on the wrong side of the PTO (Planned Turn Over) list. that means the bottom 5

As I watched the horror of the attacks on 9-11 safely from my living room in the Rocky Mountains It suddenly dawned on me the horror the employees of the Windows on the World Restaurant must be enduring. I thought of the hundreds even thousands of employees that I had the privileged to work with over the last couple of decades. I attempted to understand yet could never image the horror the employees were experiencing going about their morning prep and daily routine. “Have we Forgotten” sings one country singer, I believe we have. Some “Experts” say it will make us angry well so be it, it beats the hell out of sitting on our hands waiting for the self serving politicians freaking criticizing each other and doing absolutely nothing. I can not in a million years understand the horror and fear that must have gripped their hearts and minds as they realized what had happened 15 floors below them. These people were truly the cream of the industry crop to have the skill to be working for such a great food service organization. I can only hope that Heavenly Father wrapped his arms around them to comfort them from from the evil that ensued in the last moments of life.\n\nRestaurant employees are some of the most charitable people I have known, In my 22 years in the industry I have been witness to some amazing random acts of kindness. I believe the owners and employees in New York City displayed some of the greatest charity our industry has been witnessed to. The tough and resilient New York restaurateurs displayed not only selfless acts of kindness and of charity but stood up, climbed out of the smoldering ashes and would not submit or give into the cowardly attacks on our great nation. Not just within New York but nation wide, employees donating tips, blood, time and anything to help VOLUNTARILY! and not because corporate said it would be a great marketing moment! These employees did this on their own, they raised the money, they decided to work for free they, decided to do what they could to make a difference. I am still saddened and affected by the events of 9-11 the loss of one of the nations most awarded restaurants, the terrible morning when over 2,900 of our fellow citizens lost their lives because of the cowardice of a few. Yet I am still inspired by the charity and efforts raised by the community of restaurant employees nation wide. Yes whether you like it or not you are part of a fraternity a club a social class so to say, we are the largest industry workforce in the country all 12 million of us. For this I am proud to an American and restaurant industry veteran

Who are you? a song from a band in the 1960's, This however may be true it needs to be taken a bit more seriously. This question will help us identify our vision and is the first step in creating your brand or rebrand your current business. Before we can communicate (advertise) our business It makes sense to identify our business.  The SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats) is really the first step in creating our Brand. This step (branding) is also one of the most overlooked aspects in creating a restaurant marketing plan / restaurant strategy. SWOT Analysis What it is: A simple system for identifying a company's strategic growth opportunities in the marketplace: also suggests strategies to increase competitive advantage. Its other names: TOWS Analysis; Strength/Weakness/Opportunities/Threats Analysis. Where it comes from: The 1969 book Business Policy, Text and Cases by Edmund P. Learned and others (Irwin). Summary: An organization conducting a SWOT analysis will list its: 1. Internal factors, such as proprietary brands, company culture, distribution systems, exclusive access to natural resources, image, market share, patents, and personnel. The analysts will then decide which of these factors are strengths and which are weaknesses. 2. External factors, such as competitors, economic trends, partners, regulatory concerns and suppliers. The analysts will then decide which of these factors are Opportunities and which are Threats. Analysts then create separate lists for each of the SWOT categories (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and compare them to uncover strategic insights. Example: Could a sagging brand image (a weakness) be reduced by a strong marketing department (a strength)? What else you need to know: SWOT's usefulness depends on management creativity and vision. Example: A new technology might look like a threat in the hands of a competitor, but become an opportunity when you get the rights to use it. If you do not know who you are how will you know what your customers need “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

Peter F. Drucker

The movie Ratatouille was just released and as always My wife had to run out and buy it asap. No, I do not mind, these new Disney/Pixar movies are great to occupy my children’’s attention for sometimes days. Ok this got my attention also. I do recommend the movie it reminds us why we gravitated to the industry to

cheers factor Restaurant marketing

begin with. The story went through the regular I am an oddball of my clan scenario, (we know, this story line, we are all cut from this cloth). I don”t want to analyse the socio-economic position of the characters but lets just say they are close to the bottom of the food chain. Sound familiar? The movie does a nice job revealing the snobbery and stupidity of the so called up and coming elites in the business. This include the negative bullshit tossed around by these so-called critics. Just like sports writers that have never played the sports they criticize. The Hospitality Industry has seemingly gone to far from its roots. It seems it is no longer about the food, it is about the marketing, customer loyalty, butt’’s in seats, repeat visits, check averages, add-ons, up-selling, bounce back coupons, larger portions, unlimited refills of flavored sugar, overpriced water, and deserts the size of Rhode Island, ticket times, cross-utilization, answer the phone on the third ring or talk to the guests, table touches, guest visits, screwing managers on their bonuses, work harder do more! (sorry, corporate food came up on me again). Chain food serves a purpose and serves a market that is necessary. But the true foodies that ones that work in the industry for the love of wowing people with their artistic creations is hopefully growing. I at this time only remember a few of them they seem tireless, motivated and some how they keep getting better. They will never have an article written about them in Gourmet, Food & Wine or Food & Art magazine. These select few work in a “secondary market” That is chain speak for fewer people. It seems that I have gotten off of the topic of Ratatouille, the wonderful movie from Pixar Studios. With the number of operating food service outlets topping 900,000 it seems the growth is not stopping. So why is this a bad thing? Many of us started in the industry in a Mom and Pop restaurant that amplified the so called “Cheers Factor”. They were small homey quaint environments where all of the customers become a kind of family, a simple concept but hard to create. Ratatouille pulled off the feeling. The stress, pressure and cost of conceptualizing, building and designing the next Olive Garden concepts drives thousands of entrepreneurs into the industry annually. Yet they always seem to forget one thing. It is about the food and beverage, not the franchise deal. “Gusteau’’s” ( the restaurant in the movie) survives the onslaught of corporatization from a talentless chef that once worked for the famed Chef Gusteau. The genius behind the cookbook entitled “Anyone can Cook”. I have seen amazing creations from the most unsuspecting sources proving Chef Gusteau’’s theory. The restaurant industry has become to complex it is no longer about the food. I hope you keep searching I know I will, let us know when you find your “la Ratatouille” in your town.

Where does your power come from? many  restaurant managers have no idea or have not been taught basic leadership skills. Case in point, My wife and I are currently working with a group where the owner is more intent on being a friend to her staff then holding them accountable Manager Mistake number .

In the 2007 article the Dead Zone in Entrepreneur Magazine Author Goeff Williams  lists several reasons for owners getting in their own way. They are Micromanaging, Spending in the wrong places, Chasing after every customer, Being on top of your books, Personality Conflict

Now why is this important. Well this client has completely given up her power. How do you do that you wonder? It is the lack of accountability within  business. This Client has complete lost control of her business and has allowed the inmates to take over the asylum. I am sorry but this is you business and you need to enforce some position power here and there. It is great to build your power base from the personal power, however when an employee test this (which they will). She needs to real them in ASAP. Sometimes it is like a dog marking your territory, yes this is your territory.

Remember Be friendly not friends, to many lines get skewed when this line is crossed. Giving your power to your employees is a huge manager mistake. If you don’t mind your own business who will? Oh by the way the employees are embezzling from her. Some times you need to grab the puppy by the scruff of the neck and toss them out side.